Introducing the Response and Vision Fund

The COVID-19 crisis and deepening economic recession have further exposed the urgency of addressing inequality and the climate emergency. For far too many, the global economic system means a life of toil and abuse, relying on a fundamental imbalance of power. Our planet, too, has borne the consequences of a system marked by unrelenting growth and profit maximization. Women, informal and low wage workers, migrants and marginalized racial and ethnic groups will bear the largest burden of the economic fallout: they must be at the center of both the immediate response and longer-term structural change.

To correct the structural, legal, and cultural misalignments between short-term profit on the one hand and people and the planet on the other – we need bold, innovative action. In recognition of this, Ford Foundation, Fundación Avina, Humanity United, Laudes Foundation, Omidyar Network, Open Society Foundations, SAGE Fund, True Costs Initiative, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and Wallace Global Fund have joined forces to launch the Response and Vision Fund.

The fund will support community-led and civil society organizations, workers’ rights groups and social movements that work with those most impacted by the economic fallout of Covid-19, while advancing systemic change to shift the economy in a more just and sustainable direction.

“Our global economy is characterized by the power imbalance between employers and vulnerable workers. It is now our responsibility to support communities and workers in ways that fundamentally shift this imbalance, while also holding corporate and government actors accountable. The Response and Vision Fund will play a critical role in helping communities rebuild a more equitable system,” said Srik Gopal, Managing Partner of Humanity United.

The Fund is an initiative of the Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE) collaborative, a dynamic space for learning, aligning, and pooled funding strategies for a just economy. FORGE brings together funders working across multiple domains including corporate accountability, climate justice, women’s rights and workers’ rights.

To learn more about FORGE, the Response and Vision Fund, or how to get involved, contact@forgefunders.org